Trying to understand the complaints about DRK

[Zeyd]

Let’s use some logic:
DA is currently where a good portion of damage comes in, damage that is balanced quite well with the other tanks. So regardless of what effects happen, it will still need to retain its potency, or that potency would have to be relocated somewhere in order to maintain the balance.

Now, unless NO DA skill effects provide potency (which is a totally diff beast altogether), any added effects: dots, aggro, healing, will still have an “optimal” usage. Players will still want to DA the “optimal” skills and so you wind up taking away even more choice than we currently have, which believe it or not, does exist.

[whiskeybravo]

DA is currently where a good portion of damage comes in, damage that is balanced quite well with the other tanks. So regardless of what effects happen, it will still need to retain its potency, or that potency would have to be relocated somewhere in order to maintain the balance.

I don't think anyone was arguing that DA needed to be removed entirely, just reworked so it's not such a spammy button. Obviously you have to retain or shift the potencies around to keep it from being a "nerf". For example, one of the suggestions was to bake MP cost into Carve & Spit for the +140 pot, this is dps neutral and eliminates the need to double weave DA+C&S, since it's not optimal to ever use C&S without DA (outside of dungeons where you might need extra MP on big pulls).

Also, in case we forgot, Dark Mind was just changed for the very reason I’m outlining here. No one liked wasting DA on anything that wasn’t damage.

It's more fundamental than wasting a DA on something other than damage. The change was needed for consistency, now DA adds +140 potency to everything instead of just some things.